Libretro Improvements, Drag & Drop Fix - Client Update 2/21/2026

Improved Core Compatibility

Cores that require OpenGL are now supported! In Libretro, several of the gen-5 & newer consoles require OpenGL hardware acceleration support to run, and even some older consoles have the option to use OpenGL to improve performance or offer extra features. Now all that is automatically supported.

To go along with OpenGL support, AArcade has been updated to the newest libretro.h from the RetroArch GitHub repo. And the support for the various feature #defines offered by the newest libretro.h has been greatly improved. I tested at least 2 cores for each major console (when available) and only came across 1 that didn't work.

You can access the Libretro Properties menu at Main Menu > Settings Menu > Embedded tab > Libretro button. There you'll find an About tab that will explain the details of how to set things up.

YOU WILL LIKELY NEED TO UPDATE YOUR CORES. Especially if you were using older cores. Check the About tab in the Libretro Properties menu for info about the Libretro build bot.

Note that it's still ONLY 32-bit cores that are supported.

Making It Run

First, you have to configure your file paths for each cores that you enabled in that Libretro Properties menu. You only need ONE core enabled per-system - the one you want used for files in the path you set.

Sub-folders are supported, so if you have each game in a different folder, you'd set the file path to the parent folder. You just have to keep files for different systems separate, because AArcade knows which core to use based on which folder the game came from.

Then on the in-game screen when you activate it, just use the RUN button instead of launch. If you turn on Auto Run w/ Libretro in that Libretro Properties menu, then it'll happen automatically!

Runtime Core Options

While the core is running, if you pull down the Libretro Tab (up where it's usually the Address Tab when on a website) you can access the Libretro Core and Libretro Input menus.

This lets you configure the options that each core provides. Only the DEFAULT settings have been tested! And many of the options will require you close the core & re-run it to see the changes.

The core & input options provide per-game overrides in case you want different settings for different games. (And per-core overrides in the case of input options.)

The left & right analog sticks of your IRL gamepad are HARD-CODED to be passed through as left & right analog sticks to Libretro. And your gamepad's L and R triggers are bound to what some cores see as the "Z button". These analog binds are ONLY active if your input is focused on a Libretro core.

If you want to lock your input focus to a screen without maximizing it, you can use the Input Lock command in the (F7) Commands Tab. (For advanced users, you can use "find cmd_" in the developer console to see the commands.) Then your input is locked to that screen until you press ESC.

And speaking of advanced users - Libretro currently does a lot of debug messages while it runs, so you should probably keep "developer 0"